US prosecutors: No charges in Mississippi police shooting

Antwun 'Ronnie' Shumpert was shot four times by Tupelo police officer Tyler Cook.

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

Antwun 'Ronnie' Shumpert was shot four times by Tupelo police officer Tyler Cook.
Antwun ‘Ronnie’ Shumpert was shot four times by Tupelo police officer Tyler Cook.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Federal prosecutors won’t seek civil rights charges against a Mississippi police officer in the June 2016 fatal shooting of a man following a foot chase.

In a statement Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner says there’s not enough evidence to prove Tupelo Police Officer Tyler Cook violated the rights of Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert. Joyner says there’s no evidence contradicting Cook’s story that he shot Shumpert because the officer believed his life was in danger.

Cook is white. Shumpert was black.

Family members maintain the shooting was unjustified. Shumpert family lawyer Carlos Moore says “a blind man could see this was excessive force.”

Prosecutors met with Shumpert’s family to discuss the decision.

State grand jurors declined to indict Cook in August. Shumpert’s survivors sued Tupelo, seeking $35 million in damages.

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